Variable pitch propeller



Aug. 10, 1954 Filed Jan. 28, 1952 P. TERZI VARIABLE PITCH PROPELLER 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 .ZWVEA/TOK 3 040 72/?2/ Aug. 10, 1954 TERZI 2,685,933

VARIABLE PITCH PROPELLER Filed Jan. 28, 1952 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 JANE/V705 4040 72 7 ATTOi/VE) Aug. 10, 1954 Filed Jan. 28, 1952 P. TERZI VARIABLE PITCH PROPELLER 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 Aug. 10,1954 P. TERZl 2,685,933

VARIABLE PITCH PROPELLER Filed Jan. 28, 1952 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented Aug. 10, 1954 UNITED STATES E'N'T OFFICE Claims, priority, applicationltalyfiebnuaryll lllfl "fi'Claims. (Cl. 170-160.5'7)

.Thls..mventionrelates to rotary blades of any itype such as lairscrews ma-rine ,propllers lrotors forhelicopters,rntorsfor.compressorsand,pumps, windmills and, hroadly anylhlatied rotating mem- Joers submitted to centrliugaliorceland toithe axiallthrust withina fluid in. relative movement,

.and concerns .more pai 'ticul-arly the connection of the individual blades with their .assooiate'd hub.

-A.flrst .object .of this .inventionis lto lprov-ide a ,propeller of automatically variable .lpitch in aclcor'clance with its operating conditions.

,A iurther object-of lthis invention .is to pro- .vi'de one .o'f connection between the Tblade .andrpropelleizhub, suitable. forlallpropeller-sand, .moreparticularly, --toralmost :all typeset" aircraft, but .for the necessary .modification of a purely technological character depending ,upon thelpotw .ersinvolved.

:A Rfurther =ob3'ect ref this .invention is to 2101 ivider in vsaid ,propel-ler .ladjustinglmember which permit of determining experimentally.thelmost satisfactory arrangement of the blade for -.the latter to Iloe .self oontro'lled vunder all woperating ..conditions. I

A ,further object .ofethis invention i-is to ,pro- .vide a variable pitch propeller simple (in 46611- -struction through .the use tor a. minimised numiber .of component ;,;oa-r.ts, .so as to e.lmost ffully eliminate the .necessitylo'f overhauling once as- H .sernh'ly and settinghavebeeneffected,

' VZith these objects .inevievv, :Iaprovide inan automatic pitch changing propeller a hub, a ra- .dial sleeve on s aid hub,.albearingimounted within .said sleeve, a propeller blade freely rotatable within said hearing, Lmeans positioned between said hearingmand sleeve for varyingthe position of the of said -1bearing with respect to-the axis of said sleeve, and,meansypositionedi-between said bearingand the lhladeior varyingthe ,pos-il,

tion-of the axis of said blade with respect to-the axis of saidrbea ring.

According to-a"further-feature of this invention, in an -.automatic pitch changing =propeller .I-prov-ide ahub, .a radial sleeve .onrsa-idr hub,

bearing mounted within said sleeve, a propeller blade freely rotatable within :said bearing through --a predetermined vangle about the :axis of *said ,bearing, --means positioned between said bearing and sleevefor varying the position of the axis *of i said hearing with respect to the axis of said sleeve, andmeans positioned between said bearing; and the 1 blade-for varying-the :position of the axis ..of said lolade'with respect to the axis of .sai'd'b'ear'ing.

"Further features and advantages of "this linvention shall "be understood from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof, reference being made to the accompanying .fdraw- 'ings, in which:

Figureil is .a section-on aplane common to the hrlb axisfiandsleeveaxis of a two-bladed aircraft propeller according to thislinvention;

.Figure "2 is a section 'l-id'en'tical with that of 1- Figure 1, some parts'loeingshown inside view; Figure 3 is a section identical with thatof .Figure 1, :the bearing and blade being adjusted I in adifierezit manner;

"Figure '4 is.a section online"IVIV of Figure l Figure'h isegperspective view of aspherical ring;

.Eigure'B is an explanatory diagram showing-the angular relations 'be'tween ithe axes of the main members forming the, propeller according to this 2O invention.

'In Figures '1 to '5, f! denotes the propellerhub according to this invention, .a'da-pted to be'keyed 'to an "engine shaft, not shown, reaching within theaXiellEborei'Tin thelhub. Assumingthe sai'd w p'ropeller has Ltwo"blades only, the hub is ,pro-

vided with two radial l sleeves 3, 3", respectively, diametrically opposed with respect .to the geometric aXis.'X-X"of the. huh,- having consequent- 1y a common a'Xi's"Z"Z"(Fig ure2) perpendicular 3O "-4 denotesthe'root .of .a blade screwed in a 'soci et"5. Thoughjthe'hla'de'is shown as a wooden hla'de'it willbe obvious thatthebla'cle material 'is" not .ess'ential .for the: purpose of this invention.

The socket5iisformed externally witha shoulder -ii and a screw-threaded endportion "l. A spherical sea-ting ilisfitted onfthe socket portion 'between the shoulder t and the end portion '1 -aridhasfitted'thereon the inner race ring 79 of W "an*antiiirictionihearing comprisingimoreover an outer'iracering l'llan'd'two rows-of conical rollers ll, 52, respectively. As will "be'seen from the drawing, therarrangement is such that the. bearings-412 can take up not only radialfforces but alsoaxialthrusts in both "directions. Inifact,

"the race ring 9 is l'forme'd with two inclinedrace- Ways IS M andtherace ringlll iss'imilarlylpro video. with ,a rolling track 15 directly formed therein and a separately attached rolling 'track it whiehlislsecured'ito ithe race ring HJl-by. means "of a screw-threaded annular. memberfl l through the interposition of some annular members, of which the function ,shalllbe explained hereafter. The ou'terrace ring ill is formed -wi th-.-a spheri- .eal wexternal profile l8, eqntentrical with the spherical seating 8 and is arranged within a spherical seating [9 formed within the sleeve 3 (Figure 3). The seatings 8 and I9 are therefore concentrical and the axis of the bearing Ei-IZ can take with respect to the axis of the sleeve 3 an infinite number of positions depending upon the position of the outer race ring is in the seat 59.

The race ring it is further provided externally with a peripheral shoulder 26 which is contained in a plane inclined with respect to the axis of the bearing and is engaged by the lower face of a substantially spherical annular element 2!. The element 2i has oblique faces so that, while its lower face engaging the shoulder 20 is inclined with respect to the geometrical axis Z-Z of the sleeve 3, its upper face is constantly perpendicular to said axis.

22 denotes a screw-threaded annular member screwed in the sleeve 3 and pressing through the interposition of a washer E23 the annular element ill against the shoulder 20. It will be obvious that, on unscrewing the member 22, the member 2! and the inner race ring it of the antifri tion bearing El--i 2 may be rotated, whereby the geometrical axis of the bearing takes various positions with respect to that of the sleeve 3. The hearing may be retained in the selected position by screwing the screw-threaded annular member 22.

The position of the inner race ring 9 can be similarly adjusted on the spherical seating 8, that is, the position of the blade axis may be adjusted with respect to the bearing axis. Two spherical rings 23 ans 24 having oblique faces are interposed between the race ring 9 and shoulder 6, said rings being similar to the member 2i, of the type shown in detail in Figure 5, in which the mutual inclination of the faces is well visible. Two further spherical rings 2t, 25 are arranged between the race ring 9 and a nut 21 screwed on the screw-threaded portion l of the socket 5. On slackening the nut 2? and rotating by pairs between them the rings 23, 24 and the rings 25, 25, respectively, the position of the blade axis may be varied with respect to that of the bearing ill-E2 within the limits depending upon the inclination of the faces of the rings 2345.

In Figures 1 and 2, the arrangement of the annular elements adjusting the position of the bearing on the seats 8 and i9 is such that the axis of the sleeve 3 coincides with the axis of the bearing the blade axis. In Figure 3 the member 22 has been rotated through 180 about the axis Z Z of the sleeve so that the bearing axis forms to the axis ZZ in the-plane of the drawing the maximum angle admissible for the construction shown. This angle might be transferred to another plane containing the axis Z-Z by rotating together the rings 21 and it. In the same Figure 3 the rings 23, 24 and 25, 26 have been rotated about the blade axis through a relative angle smaller than 180, so that the blade axis is deflected from the bearing axis by an intermediate angle between and the maximum angle occurring if the rings in each pair were relatively rotated through 180.

More particularly, on slackening the nut 27, the blade and socket can be rotated with respect to the rings 9 and 23-26 as a whole in order to locate the mostconvenient position.

In Figure 3, 0 denotes the centre of the bearing (coinciding with the common center of the spherical seats 8, l9), R-R is the blade axis, M is the plane of the bearing and O-A is the axis of the bearing. In the drawing the axes R-R and OA have been drawn in the same plane as the axis Z-Z of the sleeve 3 for the sake of convenience, but these three axes are in general actually distributed in the space and not in a plane, as will be explained hereafter.

The blade 4 rotates with the race ring 9 of the bearing 9-42 about the axis OA describing a cone of an aperture 2c, in which ,8 is the angle, adjusted by means of the rings 23-26, between the axis O-A and the axis P,R. At the same time the axis R--R of the blade forms to the axis ZZ an angle (,0, which is obviously variable on rotation of the blade in the bearing in which the blade describes the above-mentioned cone.

It will be understood from the foregoing that the bearing 9l2 is the so-called delta-hinge, of the which the axis is the axis O-A of the bearing. As distinct from known constructions, however, in the propeller according to this invention the position of this axis is no longer determined by the tedious calculations implying a full qualitative and quantitative knowledge of all the forces acting on the propeller blade, but is experimentally determined. Moreover, the above described system serves for all the propellers without distinction and varies merely in dimensioning dependently upon the powers involved.

The operation of a delta hinge is well known. This is substantially an auxiliary axis of rotation, distinct from the hub axis X-X, about which the propeller blade can rotate for automatically adjusting its pitch to operating conditions in order to afford an optimum efficiency. In known constructions, besides the difficulty in accurately locating the hinge, a substantial error occurred, residing in the fact that the blades were bound to one another. According to this invention, each blade is free andindependent of all other blades, which are likewise connected to the hub l in the above described manner.

Figure 6 diagrammatically shows the position of the outer race ring iii of the bearing in a system of Cartesian axes: .r coinciding with the hub axis XX; zcoinciding with the axis Z-Z of the sleeve 3, and y perpendicular to r and 2 and determining together with the axis a the plane of the disc, perpendicular to the axis 1'.

By experiments, which shall conveniently be preceded by an approximate calculation, in the propeller according to this invention 1 may determine the position of the axis OA of the bearing, that is, its directing cosines X, Y, Z, the angle ,8 a range 1' of the position of the axis RrR of the propeller blade, such that the blade is self-controlled in the range 2'. More particuvlarly, the blade will be self-controlled if in the position i1 (corresponding to the smaller angle 4 between RR and the axis Z) the blade is of greater pitch and in the position "52 (corresponding to the greater angle 2 the pitch shall be smaller, which is well known to experts.

The angle cc, comprised between the two limit positions of the propeller rake i1 (maximum pitch) and i2 (minimum pitch) is obviously'a .function of the angle ,8.

When it is necessary to mechanically limit the stroke of the propeller pitch the root of each blade (Figures 2 and i) is provided with a ring 36 carrying a radial finger 3! oscillating between two stops 32, 33 carried by two rings 34, 35,1espectively clamped within the outer race ring 5 D of the bearing by means of the screw-threaded annular member ll. By loosening the member H, the

stops 32 and 33 may be angularly displaced. Similarly, by unscrewing the nut 21 the position of the finger 3! may be adjusted about the blade axis.

It will be understood that this construction may be varied in some details Within the limits of professional knowledge of an expert in the branch and without departing from the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In an automatic pitch changing propeller a hub, a radial sleeve on said hub, a roller-bearing having inner and outer rings, said outer ring being fixed within said sleeve, a propeller blade mounted in the inner ring of said bearing, means positioned between said outer ring and sleeve for varying the relative position between their axes, and means positioned between said inner ring and the blade for varying the relative position between the axis of said bearing and the axis of said blade.

2. In an automatic pitch changing propeller a hub, a radial sleeve on said hub, a spherical seat within said sleeve, a roller bearing having inner and outer rings, said outer ring being mounted in said seat, a propeller blade connected with the inner ring of said bearing, means associated with said outer ring and sleeve for fixing at will the position of the axis of the bearing with respect to the axis of said sleeve, and means positioned between said inner ring and the blade for varying the relative position between the axis of said bearing and the axis of said blade.

3. In an automatic pitch changing propeller a hub, a radial sleeve on said hub, a spherical seat within said sleeve, a roller bearing having an inner and outer ring, said outer ring having a spherical outline engaging said spherical seat, annular means associated with said outer ring and sleeve for fixing said outer ring in a preferred position within said seat by pivoting said ring about its center, a propeller blade rotatably adjusted in said inner ring further annular means positioned between said blade and the inner ring for fixing at will the relative position between the axis of said bearing and the axis of the blade and locking said ring in a preferred position.

4. In an automatic pitch changing propeller a hub and a blade, a radial sleeve on said hub, a spherical seat within said sleeve, a roller bearing having an inner and outer ring, said outer ring having a spherical outline engaging said spherical seat and having a circular abutment, an annular member engaging said abutment and said seat and having inclined faces for adjusting the axis of said bearing with respect to the axis of the sleeve, further spherical seat on said blade, and two sets or annular elements adjustably clamping said inner ring on said second seat.

5. A variable pitch propeller as claimed in claim 4, in which the blade root has a steel cup thereon having a peripheral abutment and an externally threaded end portion and in which said last named spherical seat, said last named annular elements and the inner ring of said bearing are clamped between said abutment and a nut screwed on said threaded portion of the cup.

6. In an automatic pitch changing propeller a hub, a radial sleeve on said hub, a spherical seat within said sleeve, a roller bearing having an inner and outer ring, said outer ring having a spherical outline engaging said spherical seat and having a circular abutment, an annular 121621- ber engaging said abutment and the seat and having inclined faces for adjusting the axis of said bearing with respect to the axis of the sleeve, a propeller blade, a further spherical seat on said blade, two sets of annular elements adjustably clamping said inner ring on said second seat and regularly adjustable stop means carried by the blade and the sleeve, respectively, limiting the angle of rotation of the inner ring of'tlie bearing about its axis.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,117,062 Jablonsky May 10, 1938 2,275,053 Reissner et al. Mar. 3, .942 2,364,871 Reissner Dec. 12, 1944 2,370,657 Hackenthal Mar. 6, 1945 2,570,484 Quinn Oct. 9, 1951 

